Topic: Greatest Liverpool XI - School Project

[Ziltoid]

He was gobsmacked when i read a team out with no Gerrard.

Apparently i missed a couple out but there you go.

[Steve_1892]

My team since I'm a Red (2001) :

Alisson

Alexander-Arnold
Hyypia
van Dijk
Robertson

Fabinho
Alonso
Gerrard

Salah
Torres
Mane

[Chavasse1917]

This is easier the less time you have been a supporter. I go back to 1962 so it is incredibly difficult. I have gone on record by saying that  the late 80s team will probably always be the most successful as there was more continuity and stability in the team; less 3 years stints etc. Their success will be very hard nowadays to emulate. I was a kid in the 60s, didn't go to my first match until 1967 and there was less on TV so maybe there should have been more of Shankly's earlier team.

The current team, however, is by far the most exciting to watch.

My selection would be :

             Ray Clemence,

Trent AA- Alan Hansen-VVD-Emlyn Hughes;

                     Stevie G
     Graeme Souness   John Barnes

Kenny Dalglish- Ian Rush- Sadio Mane


But just for indulgence I have also picked a team of my, sometimes illogical, favourites who may not have been the best but I loved watching them; they have something in common: they gave everything for the shirt.  Oh and I am not Finnish....

                             Pepe Reina

Steve Finnan- Sammy Hyypia- Jamie Carragher- Andy Robertson,

                              Jordan Henderson
             Terry McDermott         Jari Litmanen 

Dirk Kuyt                Robbie Fowler        Roger Hunt

[Red_Mist]

Great to see Jari get a mention. What a perfect little cameo he performed for us. A joy to watch. Put him alongside Gary Mac in a ‘brief but brilliant’ XI

[howes hound]

If Howes drops in, I was wondering if he ever saw Albert Stubbins play? Or was he before his time? Another one my old fella would wax lyrical about.

Go easy, Red! I'm old but not that old. You still heard a lot about Stubbins when I started watching them but I think he retired the year they got dropped to Div 2. Still, I'd heard enough stories and seen enough pictures I could'nt miss him on the Sgt Pepper cover 15 years later.
I think Ray Lambert was the oldest player on the team back when I started watching them. He certainly looked old. All of 33 I now find when I look him up.
I played football non-stop but didn't go to a match until Dec 1955. The arl fella got me interested after we pasted Fulham 7-0. So I went a couple of games after, a 1-1 draw with Barnsley on a miserable cold, windy day, watching from the Pen surrounded by kids who towered over me. The Boys' Pen at Anfield is a history chapter in itself.

[Yorkykopite]

Just want to say one thing on the centre back position, in which we are peculiarly blessed. I think most people would go for Jocky and VVD. Rightly so. But the best and most complete centre back I’ve ever seen anywhere, in the whole of world football, is Mark Lawrenson between 1983 and 1985. He was revolutionary. Fast, strong, good in the air, a superlative tackler (both preemptive on the front foot and chasing an attacker down) and creative and dynamic on the ball. As calm as you like, like Big Virg, and as fast as Joe Gomez. For those years he was the ultimate blend.

[Redwhiteandnotblue]

Surprised no one's mentioned this team yet

1. Carragher
2. Carragher
3. Carragher
4. Carragher
5. Carragher
6. Carragher
7. Carragher
8. Carragher
9. Carragher
10. Carragher
11. Carragher

[Medellin]

Just want to say one thing on the centre back position, in which we are peculiarly blessed. I think most people would go for Jocky and VVD. Rightly so. But the best and most complete centre back I’ve ever seen anywhere, in the whole of world football, is Mark Lawrenson between 1983 and 1985. He was revolutionary. Fast, strong, good in the air, a superlative tackler (both preemptive on the front foot and chasing an attacker down) and creative and dynamic on the ball. As calm as you like, like Big Virg, and as fast as Joe Gomez. For those years he was the ultimate blend.

Mark Lawrenson was quality indeed..specialist in recovery sliding tackles when every other defender out there would certainly have missed or given a penalty away.. and what a player the Jockey/Lawro combo had pushing them all the way in Gary Gillespie too.
The Lawro/Jockey pairing...

[Red_Mist]

Go easy, Red! I'm old but not that old.

Haha, sorry mate!

I think it’s because I never thought of my dad as particularly old because he didn’t change much in his old age, apart from shouting at the tele a lot more when someone he didn’t like came on (like Boris or Ant & Dec for instance )

But he was born in ‘33 so that post-war team managed by George Kay was his first love. Liddell, Paisley, Stubbins and Jack Balmer. The crazy gang as I think they were known, long before Vinny & co.

Going back even earlier, my grandad used to watch the match for free as a kid from the top of an open top trolley bus. Apart from the wars he went on the Kop, then in the main stand for 70 years on the bounce and was proud to tell me he could count the games he’d missed on one hand. Also one of the ones who would go to Goodison every other week to get his football fix. Got a great photo of him somewhere watching the 1981 European Cup final with me & my brother. All three of us have got a scarf and a hat on, and on the end is the dog....also wearing a red hat & scarf and not looking very happy about that (must’ve been a closet blue that animal).

Incidentally he also had that same Liddell haircut (my grandad, not the dog!). Jet black hair, centre parting, brylcreem’d flat. Must’ve been all the rage thanks to Billy!

P.S. if Ziltoid’s lad wants to read more about a great historical season, there’s a good book “At the end of the storm” I think it’s called about the post-war championship winning side.

[Stubbins]

Just want to say one thing on the centre back position, in which we are peculiarly blessed. I think most people would go for Jocky and VVD. Rightly so. But the best and most complete centre back I’ve ever seen anywhere, in the whole of world football, is Mark Lawrenson between 1983 and 1985. He was revolutionary. Fast, strong, good in the air, a superlative tackler (both preemptive on the front foot and chasing an attacker down) and creative and dynamic on the ball. As calm as you like, like Big Virg, and as fast as Joe Gomez. For those years he was the ultimate blend.

By all accounts the one player who convinced Kevin Keegan it was time to hang up his boots.

Televised FA Cup match against Newcastle one Friday night, when Keegan who was turning out for them made a typical foraging run towards our box. Lawrenson must have given him a ten yard head start, made up the ground and just slid in and took the ball off his toe, as clean as a whistle. Some player alright.

When I'm in here, a quick name check for one player who probably wouldn't feature in anyone's greatest Liverpool XI, but I loved him. Peter Cormack. You couldn't miss him on the pitch. Mob of dark unruly hair and a strange high stepping run. It was perhaps the days when we still referred to someone like him as an 'inside forward'. Creative, scored goals and he could handle himself, an essential requirement when your big rivals were Leeds United. He's the first player I remember who got the number 5 shirt at Liverpool and wasn't a centre half. I always thought we sold him far too soon. Then again, he was essentially replaced by Ray Kennedy, so what do I know?

[ScottishKopite]

Based on my lifetime alone:

                Becker
Trent  Hyppia  Van Dijk   Robertson
   Gerrard  Henderson  Alonso
Salah        Torres        Suarez

The third midfield slot gave me a bit of a headache after Gerrard and Alonso were shoe-ins. Nearly went for Mascherano based on pure quality but I remember feeling that his form dropped off once he'd secured the permanent transfer, plus he didn't win a single trophy with us did he? That left it down to Hamann and our current skipper. I edged towards Hamann but Hendo is about 8 games away from going down in history as a league and european cup winning captain for Liverpool, he's got the longevity too. For some reason I'm a little bit hesitant to put him in. In terms of individual quality he doesn't fit too well with some of those names but for what he's about to achieve, as well as his personality and leadership he has to have earned his place, given that I can only judge on the last 20 years.

Tough to leave out Ngog, Poulsen and Konchesky as well but someone has to sit on the bench.

I like this team BUT as much as torres and suarez were amazing I personally have God in there and Mane. ( my choice )

not going to be a dick and slate the team like others do but good team

[ScottishKopite]

Surprised no one's mentioned this team yet

1. Carragher
2. Carragher
3. Carragher
4. Carragher
5. Carragher
6. Carragher
7. Carragher
8. Carragher
9. Carragher
10. Carragher
11. Carragher

Would never score 

[paulrazor]

Would never score 

ah theyd get the odd own goal

[stockdam]

Surprised no one's mentioned this team yet

1. Carragher
2. Carragher
3. Carragher
4. Carragher
5. Carragher
6. Carragher
7. Carragher
8. Carragher
9. Carragher
10. Carragher
11. Carragher

Who would the subs be?

[Timbo's Goals]

Just want to say one thing on the centre back position, in which we are peculiarly blessed. I think most people would go for Jocky and VVD. Rightly so. But the best and most complete centre back I’ve ever seen anywhere, in the whole of world football, is Mark Lawrenson between 1983 and 1985. He was revolutionary. Fast, strong, good in the air, a superlative tackler (both preemptive on the front foot and chasing an attacker down) and creative and dynamic on the ball. As calm as you like, like Big Virg, and as fast as Joe Gomez. For those years he was the ultimate blend.

Agreed Yorky - 'cept for one thing - he was no Tommy Smith [refer to any of my diatribes on LFC's joint second greatest ever footballer]

 

[Oscar_the_Grouch]

Late to this but I signed up to RAWK especially (after 17 years lurking) to contribute.

         Liverpool All-Time XI

                    Clemence

   Neal        Smith    Van Dijk        Hughes

Liddell     Gerrard    Souness(c)      Barnes
             
               Dalglish    Rush

The hardest decision was whom to give the captain's armband - the entire team apart from Clem and VVD have been club captain at some point. The one other tricky decision was Neal vs Nicol vs TAA at right back. Neal pipped the other two on account of being the most decorated player in the club's history.

As Shanks said, the two best teams on Merseyside are Liverpool and Liverpool Reserves. That being the case...


    Liverpool All-Time Second XI

                      Becker

TAA       Hansen    Yeats(c)   Nicol

Callaghan    McDermott        Heighway
             
Salah               Hunt              Keegan           

The captain picks himself for this one. Again, I had to choose between Nicol and TAA, but Nicol's versatility meant that I was able to fudge it and have him play on the left (as Nicol was a superior player to both A Kennedy and Byrne). Toughest decisions were in attack: choosing from Fowler/Salah, Hunt/Torres & Keegan/Suarez is almost impossible. I'm not sure it's quite time yet but I could see Hendo edging Cally out of this side in the very near future...

[Medellin]

^
Top drawer that mate & finally welcome to the madness!

[Red_Mist]

Yep, two great teams and probably the closest to where I would’ve ended up if I’d grown a pair and forced myself to do it

Cracking first post. Welcome!

[Seasider2110]

In my lifetime -

      Clemence

Nicol  VVD  Hansen Kennedy

Whelan  Souness Gerrard  Barnes

          Dalglish Rush

[Timbo's Goals]

Late to this but I signed up to RAWK especially (after 17 years lurking) to contribute.

         Liverpool All-Time XI

                    Clemence

   Neal        TOMMY SMITH    Van Dijk        Hughes

Liddell     Gerrard    Souness(c)      Barnes
             
               Dalglish    Rush

The hardest decision was whom to give the captain's armband - the entire team apart from Clem and VVD have been club captain at some point. The one other tricky decision was Neal vs Nicol vs TAA at right back. Neal pipped the other two on account of being the most decorated player in the club's history.

As Shanks said, the two best teams on Merseyside are Liverpool and Liverpool Reserves. That being the case...


    Liverpool All-Time Second XI

                      Becker

TAA       Hansen    Yeats(c)   Nicol

Callaghan    McDermott        Heighway
             
Salah               Hunt              Keegan           

The captain picks himself for this one. Again, I had to choose between Nicol and TAA, but Nicol's versatility meant that I was able to fudge it and have him play on the left (as Nicol was a superior player to both A Kennedy and Byrne). Toughest decisions were in attack: choosing from Fowler/Salah, Hunt/Torres & Keegan/Suarez is almost impossible. I'm not sure it's quite time yet but I could see Hendo edging Cally out of this side in the very near future...

Yeah - agree with Misty - cracking choices - especially centre back in your top team!!

And a big welcome too!